Richmond's finals hopes up in smoke after shock loss Jay Clark, Sam Landsberger
From: Herald Sun
July 14, 2012 8:26PMRICHMOND is set to come under fire for selling a home game to Cairns in a move which could cost it a rare finals berth.Lightning struck twice tonight when the Tigers fell to Gold Coast for the second time in as many years, losing on the back of a Karmichael Hunt after-the-siren goal at Cazaly’s Stadium.
The Tigers make makes about $500,000 for each home game it sells to plays in Cairns.
Suns coach Guy McKenna said the Suns were gifted about a five-goal head start by playing in their home state, opposed to the MCG.
Gold Coast’s last start at the G ended in 97-point hammering at the hands of Collingwood.
Richmond is in the second year of a three-year deal to play one home game a season in Cairns.
Richmond chief executive Brendan Gale last year defended the decision to sell home games, saying it was in the club’s best interests.
“We made a decision about 18 months ago, for our club to become competitive on a sustained basis, we had to build our financial strength,” Gale said.
"In that context, the decision was made to sell what could only be described as a low-value game, in terms of playing Gold Coast at Etihad Stadium, for a reasonable return.
“To simply focus on the selling of the game as the basis of that result is an excuse, a cop-out, and we won’t accept it as a footy club ...
“I can understand the disappointment and frustration of a lot of our supporters, but we are simply not going to accept short-term fixes.”
The Tigers would now need to win at least five of their remaining seven matches to feature in September.
POLL: Would Tiger fans rather the cash to spend on the footy department or the four premiership points?
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